Friday, 03 February 2012 11:14

Lee Westwood acknowledged the help of putting coach Phil Kenyon recently when he was interviewed at his season opener in Abu Dhabi.

In reference to his stunning end of season form which saw Westwood win in South Africa and Thailand he stated 'The most pleasing thing was about four weeks prior to that I started working with Phil Kenyon, my new putting coach'.

'To shoot 62 around Sun City and then 60 and 64 around the course in Thailand you need to start making a few 15-footers, which I've been missing for the previous 17 years.

'Once they start going in all of a sudden you turn what would be a good round of 65 into a 60 or 62.'Westwood's main aim for the season, of course, is to try to end his wait for a major'

'I think it's very difficult to win a major without making a few (putts) that are surprising or bonuses, so if I can start rolling in a few 25- to 30-footers that's obviously going to make a massive difference.

'The difference with Phil is that my practice is a lot more structured and based around drills to make sure that I do the same thing over and over again. It helps your whole game. It gives you confidence - if you start making putts that you have not been making then it takes the pressure off your long game.'

Lee Westwood addresses the media in Abu Dhabi

To read the full article click here : http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/golf/article-2091448/Luke-Donald-Martin-Kaymer-worlds-biggest-bunker.html#ixzz1lJCEhecn

Sunday, 02 October 2011 20:38

Congratulations to HSPSE student Michael Hoey who held off major winners and  compatriots Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell to win the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.Hoey, who began the week 271st in the Official World Golf Ranking, carded a final round of 68 at St Andrews for a 22 under par total of 266 to claim his second European Tour title of the season and the first prize of €588,148.

"It hasn't sunk in yet and it won't for a while," Hoey admitted."It's taken a long time but I supposed in a weird way you enjoy it more because you have struggled through six goes at the Qualifying School.

"It's not nice running out of money, being away from home, questioning your swing, and there are points where you wonder 'Do I want to continue with this."

Hoey, 32, began the final round three ahead of McDowell and five clear of McIlroy, only for McIlroy to card four birdies and an eagle in a brilliant front nine of 30 to move into the lead.

The US Open Champion birdied the second and then holed his second shot to the par four third for an eagle two, his approach pitching past the flag but spinning back into the hole. Further birdies at the sixth, seventh and ninth took McIlroy top of the leaderboard before Hoey hit back from his second bogey of the day on the seventh with birdies at the eighth and ninth to draw level.

McIlroy pulled ahead again after a superb tee-shot on the par three 11th finished just two feet from the hole, but that surprisingly proved to be the 22 year old's last birdie of the day. Hoey missed from four feet for birdie on the 14th after hitting two drivers to the front of the green - "I felt I was throwing this away at that stage," he admitted - but quickly put that disappointment behind him with birdies on the next two holes from close range to take a lead he would not relinquish.

"Playing with Graeme (McDowell), he's such a battler and wanted to win himself, but he said to me a couple of times on the green 'Knock it in' and fortunately at the end I was able to put a bit of fight in myself," Hoey added. "I knew I had to hit two of the best shots of my life into 16 and 17 and I was really pleased I was able to produce those."

Hoey who works with putting coach Phil Kenyon and full swing coach Jamie Gough mentioned his work with both coaches in his interview with Sky Sports.

Hoey began work with Phil Kenyon in March 2010 in an effort to take the step up from a player that was drifting bewteen Challenge and European Tours. A series of steady performances saw him keep his card in 2010 before he embarked on a 2011 season that has brought him two victories and his most succesfull year to date.

Michael Hoey with the Dunhill Links Trophy

Sunday, 28 August 2011 21:57

Congratulations to HSPSE pupil Thomas Björn who held his nerve in a five man play-off to win the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles. It's the 2nd victory this season for the Danish stalwart, after his win in Qatar.

The 40 year old carded a final round three under par 69 for a 11 under par total to join Mark Foster, George Coetzee, Bernd Wiesberger and Pablo Larrazábal in the five hole play-off.

In sudden-death, Wiesberger and Larrazábal, with a bogey six, dropped out at the first two holes and, after the final trio all made four on the third, Foster dropped out on the next after shooting a bogey six.

Björn, fourth in the 140th Open Championship last month, holed from three feet away, but Coetzee made a 12 footer to take it into a fifth hole where the Dane sealed victory with a birdie.

"I didn't really see that coming after my two weeks in America. But I played nicely this week. I played fantastic on Thursday and I played great today," Björn said. "The way I played the last three playoff holes, I can't be more proud of what I did."

Bjorn works with putting coach Phil Kenyon who was at hand earlier in the week at Gleneagles to run his eye over Bjorns preparations. "Thomas was looking good in practice. I was out in the US with him for the PGA and although he missed the cut, while out there i felt his putting stroke was really coming on. As soon as he got his eye back in with his full swing I knew he would have a good week. I guess it came around sooner than i thought".

Thomas Bjorn with Phil Kenyon in a recent visit to the putting studio

Monday, 22 August 2011 12:30

Congratulations to HSPSE student Oliver Fisher who completed a remarkable change of fortunes by holding off a succession of challengers to capture the Czech Open.

Six years after becoming the youngest Walker Cup player in history, the 22 year old Englishman carded a closing 69 to finish 13 under par at Prosper Golf Resort and win by two shots.

The feat was all the more impressive considering Fisher came into the week 224th in The Race to Dubai, and having missed 20 of his first 21 cuts this season, before finishing 35th in Sweden and 45th in Ireland last month to indicate some improvement.

He said: "Getting your first win is obviously special, but especially as I've struggled so far this season. My form has been horrific, but golf's a funny game. I went through a lot of different emotions out there today. I hit it well on the range this morning, so that gave me confidence. I played the front nine really well, then got a bit unlucky on the tenth. After that, the wheels started to fall off a little bit.

"I saw Mika Lundberg was on 12 under coming down the 14th, and 15 is a tricky par three with lots of water. So all sorts of things were going through my head at that stage. I hit the green, but then three-putted. So to sink birdie putts on 16 and 17 was huge, and then I played the 18th very well.

"I really enjoyed it out there today, and I've had a lot of fun this week. I've played well since Sweden, and played better every week since. I did a lot of good work back home in the two weeks before this event, and it's paid off. Hopefully this is the start of big things for me."

The work included a visit to the Harold Swash Putting School at based at Formby Hall Golf Club where Fisher spent some time with his Putting Coach Phil Kenyon. "Ollie regualrly comes up to the studio when he has chance, as well as the work we do out at tour events" commented Kenyon. "Im so pleased for him as he works so hard and his attitude has been fantastic all year despie not havin he results he wants. This now makes it 6 wins including one major for our pupils this year, which is obviously fantastic to be part off. Long may it continue"

The win moves Fisher inside the top 70 in The Race to Dubai, a remarkable achievement for a player who started the week in serious danger of losing his card. He now has a two-year exemption to take care of that.

Putting Coach Phil Kenyon working with Ollie Fisher

Wednesday, 27 July 2011 09:28

Listen to the full radio interview with Phil Kenyon. Darren Clarke is The Open Champion 2011.

Sunday, 17 July 2011 21:10

Congratulations to pupil Darren Clarke

'The Open Champion 2011'

Read more...

Sunday, 22 May 2011 21:33

Michael Hoey made it back to back wins for HSPSE pupils when he claimed his second European Tour title with a two shot victory at the Madeira Islands Open.The 32 year old, who works with Putting Coach Phil Kenyon  fired a closing 71 to finish ten under par for the week at the stunning Seve Ballesteros-designed Porto Santo Golfe.

The Northern Irishman started the day level with Jamie Elson, but used his experience to par the first seven holes before a first birdie of the day at the eighth. Hoey finally dropped a shot at the 13th, but with Chris Gane closing in he kept his cool and a birdie at the next re-established his advantage.

"It was just very very tough," he said afterwards. "I had to dig really deep, especially after I hit one in the rocks on 13, and I thought 'that's it now, I've thrown this thing away completely'."It's a crazy game. But I somehow managed to make a good swing on the third shot, and holed the putt for bogey, which was huge, it kept me in it. Then I birdied the next, and just parred in after that. The main thing was my putting, I made virtually all the six to seven footers on the way in.

"It's weird, because I think everyone was struggling a bit. If someone had really gone out there and shot a good score, then they could have got to maybe 11 or 12 under, or maybe even better, but nobody did that. Sometimes that happens on the final day and it's quite an ugly win, it was kind of quite ugly today. So I'm lucky to come out on top.

Hoey's performance this week showed the progres he has made on the greens whilst working with Phil kenyon. "I guess I knew I had a good chance this week. The last two years I finished sixth both times, and I knew I was putting better and chipping better this year. That's what I did well, I just chipped and putted better than the last two years. It was also windy when I won the Estoril Open at Oitavos Dunes, and I guess growing up in those conditions so that's an advantage".

Phil Kenyon with Michael Hoey at the Putting Studio

Sunday, 15 May 2011 17:40

It was a One-Two for HSPSE students as Darren Clarke came from four behind to capture his 13th European Tour title at the Iberdrola Open in Mallorca.

The Northern Irishman who works with Putting Coach Phil Kenyon used all his experience to grind out a final round 69 and deny another Phil Kenyon Student Chris Wood his maiden victory.

The Ryder Cup Vice Captain had reduced Wood's overnight advantage to one within three holes, but a double bogey at the 11th after finding water looked to have cost him a first win since the 2008 KLM Open.

But Wood encountered numerous problems on the back nine - bogeying 12th and 13th and driving out of bounds at the 15th as he came back in 40, despite coming within millimetres of a hole in one at the last.

Clarke finished in style, holing a putt from the fringe at the 14th, nailing his approach to six feet at the 15th, saved par with a brilliant approach from a fairway bunker and then chipping in to scramble par at the next.

The 42 year old Irishman had 'fine tuned' his putting with Phil Kenyon in the practice days of the event (see Mallorca Tour Report) which led to a solid display on the greens to finish six under par total at the Pula GC. Wood tied for second with compatriot David Lynn.

Phil Kenyon with Darren Clarke at last years Hong Kong Open

Sunday, 10 April 2011 11:51

As post mortems go, the conversation between the new Trophee Hassan winner David Horsey and his putting coach was pretty positive.

In the pratice days proceeding his victory in a sudden death play-off David and his putting coach, Phil Kenyon, had walked the course and identified the challenge that lay ahead. The fast and undulating nature of the greens at Golf du Palais Royal & Golf de L'Ocean would need good pace control and effective green reading. Two skills which form part of Horsey training plan.

"Looking at David's stats he emerges clearly as one of the best putters on the European Tour this season," said Kenyon. "David  has a very strong process which gives him an enormous ability to re-focus in the face of a poor outcome, in terms of an odd missed putt, which was evident in the closing stages in Morocco. He putted extremely well for the most part and although he let one slip by on the last hole in regulation play, he didn't let that peturb him and in the play off he regrouped and holed some crucial putts to take his second tour title"

The Harold Swash putting methodology stands alone in world golf as the most widely distributed and respected putting coaching system. Not only has it allowed Tour players to receive proven coaching techniques that are 100% consistent from Major to Major and continent to continent, it has also enjoyed a very successful replication to club golf and players of all levels the world over.

Director of Harold Swash Putting, Phil Kenyon counts the world's top golfers among his clients, including the largely unsung hero of the weekend's Moroccan event: Thomas Björn. The work he and Kenyon have done together in the past year helped the 40 year-old Dane shoot a new course record of 62 for Golf du Palais Royal & Golf de L'Ocean. Bjorn's newly found confidence in his set-up and putting stroke have re-energized his game. This was much in evidence for his victory in February in Qatar where he started his run at victory in earnest with a dead certain curling 18-foot putt at the 14^th - one of his four birdies in the final five holes.

Images of David Horsey from Morocco

Sunday, 13 March 2011 11:13

Harold Swash Putting School of Excellence (HSPSE) and DXP Tech LLC Form Strategic Partnership

HSPSE Students to benefit from access to DXP Tech's tempo training technology.

Southport, UK - (March 14th, 2011) - Harold Swash Putting School of Excellence Ltd (HSPSE), the Leader in Putting Instruction on the European PGA Tour, today announced the company has reached an agreement with DXP Tech LLC, Garland, Tx,  a leader in golf tempo training aid development, to incorporate DXP Tech's technology into its international network of certified golf putting instructors and schools.

"We are excited to incorporate this technology into our ongoing work with European PGA Tour Pros as well as our amateurs in our putting instruction schools worldwide," said Phil Kenyon, Director of Instruction of HSPSE.  "We have been working with DXP Tech informally over the past two years evaluating and providing feedback on their prototype tempo training aids and have now reached a point where we want to incorporate the technology into our schools worldwide."  "I believe these products will offer all of our golfers, both PGA Professionals and amateurs alike, technology that is unique in the golf market."

DXP Tech's Puttronome^TM Tones provide a golfer with an audio guide to putting dynamics.  The golfer listens to a selected tempo Puttronome^TM Tone that matches his/her CoreTempo^TM and putts while listening to the tone.  The Puttronome^TM is now available as an iPhone® App in the iTunes® Store.  In addition to audio tones, the Puttronome^TM App provides a visual putting "Bot" named "Puttman" who demonstrates accelerating putting strokes for short, medium, and long putts.  Unlike Metronomes which provide short audio cues or beeps for the start of the backswing and impact, or the start of the backswing, top of the backswing, and the finish of the followthrough, the Puttronome^TM Tone provides a continous audio tone whose pitch is analogous to the position of the putter head throughout all phases of the putting stroke.

DXP Tech's APS^TM mathematical model is based on the patterns of hundreds of "real" putting strokes. Putting data, collected by Harold Swash Putting School using state of the art analysis tools, revealed that, although they are similar in timing structure, a good putting stroke differs from a pendulum in respect to its acceleration characteristics.  Using the Puttronome^TM App, golfers can ingrain a consistent putting stroke tempo and control their acceleration, which is critical to good distance control.

DXP Tech's TempoStik^TM provides golfers with a visual guide to putting stroke dynamics.  An array of 60 Leds light in sequence to show a golfer precise putterhead positions with respect to time to produce a desired target roll distance based on a selected tempo and green speed.  The TempoStik^TM also makes use of the APS^TM model to generate putting stroke dynamics.  With the TempoStik^TM, a golfer can be shown exactly where the putter should be versus time to strike a ball a specific distance for all length putts from 3 feet to over 40 feet.  In addition, the TempoStik^TM GUI Software generates synchronized Puttronome^TM tones so the golfer can "hear" the stroke as well as "see" the putting stroke.

"There is nothing on the market today that is anything like the TempoStik^TM, I've tested them with great success with tour professionals and amateurs alike."  "Indeed, the Puttronome^TM was used by 2 members of last year's European Ryder Cup team."  "At HSPSE we are excited to use this technology in our teaching", said Phil Kenyon."  "With Puttronome^TM Tones and the TempoStik^TM, we can effectively teach consistent putting stroke tempo through visual and audio means."

"I am pleased to be working with an organization with the stellar credentials that HSPSE has", said Dean McConnell of DXP Tech LLC.  "Harold Swash is a legend in the golf industry and HSPSE's Director of Instruction, Phil Kenyon, who I've been working with recently, posseses a unique skill set from the perspective of being both a professional golfer and a scientifically trained technologist."   "These key attributes coupled with the meteoric rise of his European PGA Tour students in the World Rankings make Phil Kenyon one of the preeminent putting coaches in the world."

Harold Swash Putting School of Excellence,  the worldwide leader in putting instruction, offers individual and group putting instruction to golfers ranging from amateurs to PGA Tour Professionals through its putting schools worldwide. Established over 40 years ago by founder Harold Swash, C-groove Putters, licensed through Yes Golf, have become essential to players seeking a putter-ball strike with minimal skid phase in the putting stroke.  Yes Putters have found their way in the bags of numerous players on professional tours worldwide. For more information about Harold Swash Putting School of Excellence, visit the website at www.haroldswashputting.co.uk .

DXP Tech LLC is based in Garland, Texas.  DXP Tech develops golf-related training aids. The company holds patents for the TempoStik^TM as well as the Putting Distance Control Trainer^TM.  The   Puttronome^TM and CoreTempo^TM Tones are patent pending.  The company website is www.dxptech.com.

Follow the link below to visit the itune store and download the puttranome tones.

iPhone® and iTunes® are registered trademarks of Apple Computer Corporation. Puttronome^TM and TempoStik^TM are trademarks of DXP Tech LLC.